


Five Things (x20)

by trascendenza



Category: Threshold
Genre: Gen, five things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-04-25
Updated: 2007-04-25
Packaged: 2017-10-04 00:16:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trascendenza/pseuds/trascendenza
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Various five things prompts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Things (x20)

**Author's Note:**

> Prompts by tinheart and dreams_power.

**Five Things Fenway Used to Believe**

5\. That the world was an inherently good place.  
4\. That he could save it.  
3\. That bad things happened to good people for a reason.  
2\. That he would never be alone.  
1\. That as he got older, he would become wiser. Now he's just hoping he'll get smarter and faster than _them_—because the team is depending on him, and he isn't prepared to believe that their faith is misplaced.

**Five Times Lucas Doubted God**

5\. The first twenty years of his life, before he found Him.  
4\. The day he proposed to Rachel. For just a moment, the world—life—seemed too crazy for there to be any kind of plan.  
3\. His first alien dream, when he woke up and the only word that he could use to describe the experience was "rapture."  
2\. When Ramsey asked him why he'd converted and he couldn't answer.  
1\. When Rachael got infected and he survived.

**Five Uses for Theta Waves**

5\. Scaring the fuck out of Lucas when they're elevated.  
4\. Giving Molly a glimpse into a world that she's not sure she wants to see but that she can't look away from.  
3\. Showing Julian that he doesn't have to become like them.  
2\. Disguising them when they're undercover in oh, say, a town that's completely infected with aliens. That, and eating raw steaks.  
1\. Giving them the best inside angle they'll ever get to the aliens and infectees -- and the most dangerous one.

**Five Things That Never Happened During a Briefing**

5\. Ramsey says, "really, that's fascinating, tell me more," and he isn't being sarcastic.  
4\. Sean gives a twenty minute monologue about all possible recourses of action _before_ using explosives.  
3\. Lucas volunteers to lead a team.  
2\. Fenway makes it through the entire briefing without rolling his eyes.  
1\. Molly tells Whitaker to shut the fuck up and mind his own business.

**Five Things That Were Inevitable**

5\. Threshold being activated.  
4\. Molly leaving behind her life.  
3\. Sean losing a family member to a war no one will ever know the name of.  
2\. Lucas finding strength in himself that shocks them all, except Molly.  
1\. Ramsey hitting rock bottom. And perhaps, rising up.

**Five Things That Happened After It Was All Over**

5\. Molly burned all three binders in a huge bonfire. Sean helped her light it.  
4\. Ramsey found a burned copy of an A.A. book and started keeping it in his jacket pocket like a bible.  
3\. Lucas went skydiving.  
2\. Sean put down his gun and picked up a paintbrush. He never told anyone this, but he'd always been just at good at creating as destroying.  
1\. They celebrated. Not loud, not a party; just a quiet gathering in honor of those fallen. The graves always had fresh flowers.

**Five People Who Didn't Make It to the End**

5\. Adams. He was remembered as a hero.  
4\. Daphne. She got caught in the line of fire, but her breakthroughs stopped the fastest spreading vector of the Peña strain.  
3\. Roberts. Lucas never really liked him that much, anyway.  
2\. Nigel's brother. Heart attack, aged 72.  
1\. Hayes. At the end, he told Sean everything they needed to know. Nigel's cure had come hours too late.

**Five Times Ramsey Was Truly, Simply Happy**

5\. The first time a Chinese national looked at him in shock and complimented his accent.  
4\. When his sister called him up during finals one year and talked with him for hours, about nothing at all. She always knew.  
3\. When his youngest nephew -- and the fussiest of them all -- fell asleep in his lap. He didn't move him once during the night.  
2\. A beach in Baja California, where the sand was white and the water was so crystal clear that he swam by the moonlight at four A.M. He was alone and didn't mind in the least.  
1\. He came back from rehab and five times during the day he was pulled aside by members of the Red Team, and each in their own way, they welcomed him home.

**Five Human Traits the Infectees Can't Quite Shake**

5\. Utensils.  
4\. Prolonging sex. There's no reason to not be efficient about it... but it just feels so much better. Now that they're better.  
3\. Talking out loud. The dreams are useful, but old habits die hard.  
2\. Looking other people in the eye. The auras are so much more beautiful—but they're still not eyes.  
1\. Sleeping. They don't have to sleep to dream, but even with improved night vision, a small, cold part deep in the human brain won't release its fear of the night.

**Five Things Caught on the Threshold Security Cameras**

5\. Nigel is caught singing on camera quite often; he does a good rendition of "Sweet Home Alabama" and loves to tell the corpses about the time he met Sinatra. But only once, at 3AM, is he caught dancing.

4\. Molly wanders in one morning, in her pajamas, looks around, and quickly wanders back out. She returns an hour later with a Grande Cappuccino in one hand and looking completely nonplussed. The security men don't dare laugh because her smile tells them they'll regret it if they do.

3\. Baylock quickly jumps back from his computer, looking shocked and maybe even horrified; then he leans in very, very close, and doesn't move for another half hour.

2\. Sean sawing through the leg of Ramsey's chair a half hour before a strategy meeting.

1\. Ramsey streaking through the office, buck-naked and covered in whip cream. Baylock sends out an official memo that they are never to speak of it again which of course means that they never stop speaking of it.

**Five Things the Alien Signal Changed About Lucas**

5\. He wanted to have sex like, all the time. Even Ramsey started looking at him funny. The increased flexibility in his wrist wasn't helping, either.

4\. He used to love taking naps on Sundays, with a newspaper curled up under his head and his teddy bear in his arms. Now he's addicted to uppers and Fenway's starting to worry about him, again.

3\. Food doesn't just _taste_ good; it _feels_ good. He's not quite sure how to explain the difference and finds himself on the verge of licking the person he's talking to as if that will help him get the point across. He decides to blame this on the increased sex drive.

2\. He used to panic whenever they encountered a new infectee. But even though he's been cured, he still feels like they're whispering in his mind, without words. What scares him is that it doesn't.

1\. He once believed God created man in his image.

**Five Times Ramsey Turned Down Sex**

5\. He was fourteen. She was eighteen. He didn't have to be a mathematical genius to know that couldn't go anywhere good. That didn't stop him from calling her up two years later and taking her up on the offer.

4\. He was so drunk that when she asked him what his name was, he told her the Fourth Dialect Taishanese word for 'King.' It made sense at the time. The next morning he guesses he must have said 'no' in there somewhere, too.

3\. She's fourteen, and he's eighteen. His mathematical skills have only improved with time.

2\. A friend of a friend who, he discovers upon entering his "lair" (yes, it is a lair), has more sex toys than you can shake a stick at. Arthur leaves when the gentlemen starts talking about hog-tying.

1\. Molly comes to his room at five in the morning. Her eyes are red and Arthur thinks about how that's exactly how his sister looked when their mom died, but he doesn't ask. He just listens.

**Five Times Sean Cavennaugh Is Glad No One Was Looking**

5\. Sean is ten and misses the winning hit of the game. Suddenly he's glad his dad couldn't come, after all.

4\. The enemy goes down in front of him, shot in the back. It's done before he even realizes he's re-loaded his gun.

3\. Molly wears this... shirt, to work. Except it's not exactly a shirt, because he's never seen a shirt that _looks_ like that. Luckily he pulls his hand back before she notices.

2\. Ramsey cracks some dumb joke—so dumb, in fact, that the laughter's bubbling up before he knows what hit him. He makes it to the bathroom just in time.

1\. Baylock tells him that his—that Hayes is dead. It's in the car that he slips, and the dark alley is the only thing that hears him calling out his dead brother's name.

**Five Times Baylock Misused His Power**

5\. "You want a what?" "You heard me—in its original casing."

4\. "That's right—and keep Ramsey locked in those hotel rooms until I give you orders otherwise. Unless you want to end up in there with him."

3\. He waits until Whitaker's left the building and immediately countermands his order. If he's quick, it'll hold long enough for them to do what they need to.

2\. They give Ramsey a strip search. This turns out to a little less enjoyable than Baylock was hoping, since Ramsey is grinning even wider when it's over.

1\. "That's correct, ma'am—your daughter is leading us in the fight against the greatest threat to our nation's security. You should be proud."

**Five D.C. Grapevine Theories About What Threshold Really Is**

5\. Molly's actually a pin-up for the Red, White &amp; Blue Women of the State Calendar.

4\. NASA is running some kind of scam to get more funding so they can revamp the Man to Mars Mission.

3\. They've finally figured out what all that stuff at Roswell was for and now they have to see what the hell they can do with it.

2\. All the staff members at Threshold are eccentric and tenured professors they couldn't stick anywhere else. Except for Lucas, who they're sure is just the coffee boy, anyway.

1\. That maybe they really are fighting Al-Qaeda, since nothing else seems to make sense. After all, who needs satellite telemetry one minute and the plans to a train station the next? Not to mention doing tomato recalls? Mostly people try not to think about it too hard, because when they do, they realize that the facts won't add up to anything pretty.

**Five Places From Which the Red Team Is Banned**

5\. The Farmer's Market. Ramsey hit on almost every seller and offended twice as many.  
4\. The bar that Nigel went to every night, and a half mile radius of the area.  
3\. Molly's house. After the security breach, she moves to the Hotel. It's rented out to a nice couple looking to start a family.  
2\. The Museum of Natural Science where Lucas went one night as Roberts and tried to walk off with an especially interesting looking fossil.  
1\. The White House—at least Nigel, anyway. He's said some things to Bush that will never be forgiven.

**Five Things Under Lucas's Bed** (2007-05-02)

5\. A box containing every single test he's ever received a 100% on, dating back to seventh grade—more specifically, the year he hit puberty. Occasionally, and only when he's alone, he pulls them out and spreads them in a fan on the floor, breathing a quiet sigh that's a mixture of relief and wistful yearning.

4\. His adoption papers. He asked his parents for them when he turned eighteen, and they didn't refuse him; his mother cried, and he felt so guilty that he hasn't read them yet. Someday.

3\. A box of photos from college that memorialize everything from his adventures with the SciFi and Fantasy Guild Club to his fond memories of all-night LAN parties to every stupid thing he and his best friend Paul did. He had to stop calling Paul after he met Rachel. He hasn't taken the time to organize the pictures because he knows, rightly, that they would make him want to see how Paul's doing, and Rachel is fully occupying the space there used to be for him.

2\. There used to be dust bunnies because he's allergic and has a slight phobia of sneezing. But ever since Molly set up protocols for high-level security-clearance house-cleaning staff, the hardwood floor shines and all his stuff is in perfect order. It's a little unnerving, actually.

1\. Tribble. It's a teddy bear that's so old it has started to look like its namesake; furry and fuzzy and vaguely round-shaped, it's the first toy he ever had. From his biological parents. He taped it up into the box when he was seven and learned that he was adopted, like trying to seal time in a bubble, preserve the only link he had other than his DNA to the parents he hadn't met.

**Five Things Molly Didn't Plan For**

5\. Her doctor answering her call with, "have you stopped eating that packaged junk yet?"  
4\. How quickly working with the team would convert her to discussing girls in bikinis and video games during the breaks.  
3\. Ramsey's continued pursuit of her, which only became gentler with time.  
2\. That one day, even though he would never speak to her again, when Nigel would thank her.  
1\. A woman named Claire Keeply.

**Five Protocols Molly Tacked On Because She Could**

5\. Greasy pizza every Thursday, or no lunch at all.

4\. Guns must be worn at all times, even in the shower. Cameras may be placed strategically to ensure implementation of this protocol.  
4a. Amendment: all guns issued must be waterproof.

3\. Any given personnel may not spend more than twelve (12) hours per day at the Threshold building. Personnel must leave the building for at least one hour before s/he will be allowed back in.

2\. The following will be made accessible near the prisoner cells and in all offices at all times: condoms (latex and polyurethane), regurgitants, and tea packets.

1\. All umbrellas will be equipped with two stun shells and Kevlar lining.

**Five Things Lucas Blamed Roberts**

5\. "Why would I steal your labcoat? I already have one!"

4\. "I distinctly remember it was _you_ who got himself stuffed into that locker, Roberts, not me."

3\. "What? Were you drinking? I was asleep at 3AM, not prank calling your cell phone."

2\. "I... there were five doughnuts when I last looked. I swear."

1\. "Roberts, always leaving his tubes of lubrication lying around the lab... I really need to have a talk with this guy..."

**Five Things Nigel Said to Molly That He Later Regretted** (2007-05-05)

5\. "And on your personal crusade to save the rest of the world you're going to use us up like so many tissues."

4\. "I used to think that if it weren't for this project—just maybe—we could have been friends." He touched the jar that held Adams's ashes, the one courtesy they granted his body after the the months of testing—hermetically sealed for safety purposes, of course. "I sure hate when I'm wrong."

3\. "What?" He laughed, bitterly, as she looked over the report confirming his infection status. "This wasn't in your plan, Molly?"

2\. "In my professional opinion as a doctor, you're coming very close to being unfit for the job."

1\. "Sometimes," he spat out, ripping his glasses off his face and glowering at her, "I think you're just about as human as those damn infectees."

**Five Reasons Why being a Mathematical Genius Isn't All It's Cracked Up to Be** (2007-05-11)

**5.**

He handed the clerk forty-one dollars and sixty-six cents.

She was confused. "Sir?"

"For the amount." She still looked confused; Ramsey sigh, and tried talking more slowly. "Of my purchase."

"I have to ring it up, sir."

"Yes, and it will ring up to exactly forty-one dollars and sixty-six cents. I don't need a receipt, just the booze, please."

She didn't let go of the bottles. "I'm going to have to ring it up."

"For god's sake. I'm a mathematician. MATH-E-MA-TI-CIAN. Trust me on this. Forty-four dollars and sixty-six cents."

Her bright-red-lipsticked mouth was set in a firm line. "Sir, I'm—"

"Yes, thank you, I think I got the point. Just ring the damn things up."

**4\. **

"Lottery tickets, half price," the cashier said. Ramsey shook his head, just gesturing for the man to ring up his gin.

"C'mon, man," the guy said, showing his cigarette-yellowed teeth with a smile. "Live a little."

"Not my kind of gambling," Ramsey said, "chances are too slim, even on a jackpot this small." He shrugged. "Half the fun of the lottery is hope."

**3\. **

Something about looking at the universe using constant variables and unequivocal formulae takes the unexplainable mystery out of it. Ramsey stopped going to church not long after discovering Chaos theory.

**2\. **

He had a constant awareness that, even in the midst of celebrating a birthday, it was just another marker of time, another notch in an unending string backwards and forwards. After all, it wasn't as if _he'd_ personally achieved something with another rotation around the sun.

Not that he'd let that stop him from getting wasted and thoroughly laid every year.

**1\. **

"We'll get out of here alive," Molly said, holding Lucas's shoulders in what looked like a vice grip. "I promise you."

_No_, Ramsey thought, mentally running the variables for the fourth time, _we're not_.


End file.
